RPG stories can start slow and then get more complex as they move along, while still keeping the pace. Persona 5 is a great example, as a group of teens in Japan is tossed into a metaphysical world wherein they can affect reality through magical powers. While there are some twists, there aren’t any that change the plot completely.
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These other RPG examples have stories that have more surprising turns, which can affect player perception. Sometimes these twists are good, and sometimes they get more complicated than they need to be. Either way, they are all unique in their own way, and they go as far back as the PS1.
There will be spoilers ahead.
Bravely Default: Flying Fairy
A Fantastical Homage
Bravely Default: Flying Fairy begins as an homage to classic Final Fantasy games with four chosen warriors fighting against an evil empire and reigniting the light in four elemental crystals to restore balance to the world.
It’s a cliche RPG story, but good thanks to the party dialogue and the charismatic villains they meet along the way. In what looks to be the finale, the party is suddenly thrown back in time, which then begins the time loop element of the story about two-thirds of the way in. There’s more to it, but let’s leave spoilers here.
Chrono Cross
Dimension Wars
Chrono Cross is completely different from Chrono Trigger, as there’s a more tropical feel to the world, there is no time travel, the battle system is different, and very few characters carry over completely. The game begins with Serge, the protagonist, getting thrown into a misadventure to help a mysterious girl named Kid steal an artifact.
After about a third way through the game, Serge will discover he helped split the world in two, wherein one universe finds him dead and another where he lived. Players can then travel between the two dimensions to see the differences, similar to the time effects in Chrono Trigger.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Beyond The Paintress
In the world of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a gigantic being known as The Paintress, who lives on a continent beyond the sea, kills an entire age group once a year. Each year, an expedition goes to try and kill her, with Expedition 33 being the latest. Upon their arrival, almost the entire team is destroyed, and about ten hours later, who seems to be the protagonist, Gustave, dies, and is then replaced by someone associated with the villains, Verso.
As if that wasn’t enough, there’s a twist after The Paintress, who seems to be the big bad, but it turns out the entire world has all been a lie, a painted figment of someone else’s imagination. There’s more to it, but it would take an hour-long video essay to go through it all properly.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake
Whispers Of The Heart
Final Fantasy 7 Remake plays on fan expectations going in, thinking this will be a straight remake of the Midgar section of Final Fantasy 7, or maybe they don’t even know that much. At first, that seems like the case, but then the twist happens after Cloud meets Aerith for the first time, following the Bombing Mission. Ghost-like entities start to appear, called Whispers, who keep trying to change the course of the story, or to prevent changes.
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This is all revealed to be a meta statement on the Final Fantasy 7 universe, as this is not a remake, but a sequel, or more like another dimension wherein the events of Final Fantasy 7 on the PS1 already happened. This is just barely scratching the surface, too.
Fire Emblem Awakening
Emblem Babies, They’ll Make Your Dreams Come True
Fire Emblem Awakening falls very much in line with other Fire Emblem games. A good kingdom is being oppressed by an evil kingdom, so there’s a conflict to help save the world from tyranny.
Chrom, the protagonist, and his army meet a mysterious stranger, Marth, several times in the campaign, and about halfway through it is revealed that Marth is actually Lucina, Chrom’s grown-up daughter from the future. This is when a rift opens, and children from other couples start to appear as allies to vanquish the game’s true villain, which is a wild twist.
Avenging The Prince
Metaphor: ReFantazio begins with Will, a young aide to The Prince, and his fairy companion, Gallica, traveling to the kingdom’s capital to find a cure for the ailing Prince who has been placed under a curse. When the two arrive, they make contact with a resistance member who thinks one of the kingdom’s best soldiers, Louis, cursed the Prince.
In the game’s first act, which can last about eight hours, Will’s team will try to kill Louis, but in what could be the triumphant moment, the dead king comes back from the dead as a glowing meteor and pronounces that those who wish to replace him are welcome, but they must do so by going through a political race. While the revival of The Prince is still a large part of the story, it also shifts Will and his companions to try and run for the crown in his stead.
NieR: Automata
It’s Not Just About One Character
NieR: Automata has a lengthy thirty to forty-hour campaign featuring an android, 2b, traveling down to Earth with her companion, 9s. The two were sent down from the last remaining human colony in space to try and reclaim Earth from the robots that took it over years ago. It seems like a full-fledged story, even though there are some gaps in the story as the credits roll.
Then, players can restart as 9s, and while the story is parallel to the original, it’s also different, shedding light on those aforementioned plot holes. There’s another campaign after this one as well that ties everything together, so this story has layers, in other words.
South Park: The Stick Of Truth
It’s Just A Game, New Kid
South Park: The Stick of Truth begins with a new kid coming to town, whom players inhabit, and they get invited to play a LARP session with the other kids in town. There is a mystical object known as the Stick of Truth, which is just an ordinary stick that they pretend is magical.
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As the kids divide over its power, adults start to stick their noses into the stick as well, making it out to be a real piece of magic. Like all good South Park stories, it gets wildly absurd in what should be a game of pretend, and ends with literal Nazi zombies trying to take over the world with this piece of wood.
Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic
The Dark Side Of Amnesia
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is one of the greatest Star Wars games of all time, which gives players command of an amnesiac protagonist who is gifted with the Force and taken in by the Jedi Council. With their blessing, players travel the galaxy to try and stop a Sith force from growing stronger.
In a twist of events, the evil Darth Revan, whom players were seeking to destroy along with their apprentice, Malak, turns out to be them. Players could make light and dark choices throughout the campaign, but in this moment, players have to reconcile with everything they have done.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3
An Allied Civil War
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is another game that pits two sides against each other, but this war has gone on for what seems like an eternity. When the latest batch of soldiers on each side, one led by Noah and the other by Mio, meet up, they discover someone has been pulling the strings all along.
Moebius is the evil organization controlling the war, but with the help of Ouroboros, an entity that can bond characters together to form mechanized fusions, Noah and Mio’s parties aim to put a stop to this senseless war. As if that wasn’t enough, there is also time travel and dimensional rifts introduced late into the story, with other versions of Noah and Mio serving Moebius.
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